The Smash Effect
by HighRule
Summary: Set decades after 'the Smash craze' has taken over the global population, a power-hungry Wario assembles a group of like-minded antagonists in order to regain his position as one of the most feared faces across the kingdoms. With smashing becoming more and more of a dying fad, he must take matters into his own hands... commence the tickle torture!
1. Prologue

Homes had been eradicated. Parks had been shredded to pieces. Once-brimming tourist hotspots had become a mere chassis of their former glory. Years of mindless fighting had taken its toll on the environment, and near enough the global population. Ever since the idea of beating up your closest friends became a way to settle scores, make big bucks or just have fun, the world seemed like a much more threatening place. Fortunately though, for the first time in decades, 'the Smash craze' was beginning to dwindle.

Whilst fast-paced, aggressive fights did still appear relatively commonplace on the streets, the entire perception of smashing had shifted. People were beginning to come to terms with the fact that barbaric brawling and sword battles weren't the only way to get what they wanted. People were starting to appear... sentient again.

Morality and respect hadn't found their way through to everyone though. Some grew even more hungry for destructive violence since it started becoming somewhat scarce. Whilst there were still thriving underground communities who partook in widespread activities of aggression, a particular group of veteran fighters had decided that that was quite simply not enough. Wario, an ex-champion of close combat brawling, found himself longing for more competition. Competition akin to that of six months ago when humanity couldn't get enough of action-packed smash tournaments. Together with his friends Ganondorf and Wolf, he campaigned long and hard to restore the star-studded appeal of partaking in ravenous clashes against those of their choosing.

Their efforts were largely in vain. On a good day, one or two new faces would get involved and find satisfaction from such behaviour. Though people were bucking the trend far more rapidly than newbies were picking it up.

The final nail in the coffin for Wario's hopes came eight months after the decline of smashing. Leaders from across the globe had unanimously agreed to consider the act of smashing a federal crime. No longer was anybody allowed to take part in pointless scraps due to the concern for citizen safety. It was over for Wario's campaigning... or so he thought.

A few weeks after the announcement of smash banning, Ganondorf and Wolf received a call from their yellow-clad, conniving partner in crime, who they hadn't heard from for nearly as long. He had arranged an 'urgent' meet-up between the three of them and an accomplice of his: the very well-known Meta Knight. A creature who was often on the run from authorities. Slightly befuddled by the request, both Ganondorf and Wolf agreed to the meeting. In just 48 hours, all four attendees were sitting around a table at Wario's residence.

"Alright! Reunited at last eh pal?" Wolf was somewhat relieved to see that Wario hadn't let himself go too much after weeks of isolation. "Now that we're here, what exactly did you want to discuss with us?"

Not a word was uttered by Ganondorf. He had always been the strong, silent type. During his smashing days he'd gained a reputation for dominating his opponents without making any noise. He would often just stare at them as he beat them to a pulp.

"Well..." Wario proceeded to explain his reasoning without hesitation. He detailed how he had spent the past weeks devising a plan to bring back the menacing fear that the group once wrought upon others. He explained how he had thought of new ways to wreak terror without facing life-changing consequences. After listing all of his drafted ideas and how they wouldn't quite bring the desired results, he assuredly landed at his conclusion.

"WHAT?!" Wolf spurted out in bewilderment. "You want us to be TICKLE TORTURERS?!" Even Ganondorf stood there in disbelief at what he'd just heard.

"Precisely." Wario turned to Meta Knight and together they dissected the seemingly laughable scenario. Tickling people was in no way against the law, yet it acted as a way to assert and display dominance unto others. Wario clearly desired power more than he ever had before. He explained that with the mixed skill set that the four powerful figures had, pulling off a mass tickle-torture operation would be a breeze. Wario's methodical, evil-genius mind, Ganondorf's brute force, Meta Knight's manoeuvrability and Wolf's speed would cover almost all bases when combined. It took the two unconvinced individuals some time to wrap their heads around the scheme, but the more Wario enthusiastically pitched the idea to them, the more invested they got.

"I mean... I do miss the days of being fearfully revered. Plus, my claws would make fantastic tickle weapons."

It wasn't until Wario uttered his next sentence that the entire group were fully sold.

"You can pick your first victim." He said with a look of smarmy pride covering his round face. Just like that, Wolf and Ganondorf were ready to become serious tickle fiends.

"... when do we start?" Ganondorf enquired blandly.

"I'm glad you asked!"

Homes had started being rebuilt. Parks were in the process of being reimagined. Newly-brimming tourist hotspots were rife with holidaymakers coming from far and wide to spend quality time with friends and loved ones. The world was a much brighter place now than it was just shy of a year ago. Respect and decency were commonplace on the streets, and kingdom upon kingdom embraced its new laws of morality. Despite all this though, trouble was brewing in the background. The only question was, who would become the first victim of the cruel and senseless fate that was surely imminent?


	2. Chapter 1

Amidst all the redevelopment of old structures and public havens, a mass clean-up operation was in full swing for ex-Smash stages too. It had recently been announced by world leaders that locations once used for championship Smash matches would be demolished and turned into safe places accessible to all. Everything from Big Battlefield to Skyloft was marked for destruction. This news sparked international cheer, much to the confusion of a very sceptical Daisy.

"I just don't get it." She muttered to herself, twisting the front door key to a full lock as she returned to her quarters from another gruelling day of die-hard fan dodging. "Less than a year ago people couldn't get enough of smashing. How has everybody's mind changed so suddenly?"

Putting down her belongings and tumbling onto her queen-sized autumnal orange bed, she let out a sigh of relief. In her heart, Daisy knew that the shift of attitude away from Smash was a good thing. She barely ever partook in the nonsense herself. It just felt like a hefty kick in the teeth that it all stopped so rapidly, when she had been campaigning for the entire prospect of smashing each other to come to an end long ago.

After near enough ten minutes of resting her eyes before getting off the bed, Daisy was perplexed to hear a rattle at the letterbox. It was nearly 8pm – surely that wasn't Shy Guy handing out the mail at this hour. He'd been late before, many a time, but this would be a new record. Shrugging her shoulders, she spritely leapt over to investigate. Much to her surprise, there was indeed a letter waiting for her on the inside doormat.

"That Shy Guy has some nerve. What made him late this time? Another busty female to chase after?" Bending down to examine the poorly wrapped note, it shortly became apparent that this was no ordinary letter. The seal had been licked at least seven times more than it should have, the thing smelled repulsive and it was so poorly packaged that the corners were sticking out through the envelope. There's no way that this was delivered by Shy Guy. Someone had mailed this through the letterbox in person.

"Eurgh." Trying not to touch the still-warm saliva covering the envelope partition, Daisy methodically pulled the letter out of its shoddy paper cage. Uneven handwriting took up the entire page. Someone had written a personal letter to the princess. It was unusual that the guards outside didn't stop whoever's it was before they got this far. Either way, it almost felt quite exciting opening a letter in secrecy. It wasn't all that clear what the actually letter said upon first glance, but following a bit of deciphering it shockingly made some sense...

'Dearest Princess

I write to you this evening to inform you of a meeting of great importance. I, Wario, would like to Express my deepest and most sincere apology for all the torment and inconvenience I have put you and your friends through. If you would be so kind, please meet me tomorrow as the clock strikes midday at the old Battlefield site. It is there I will make it up to you in person.

Bye'

Daisy couldn't quite believe what she was looking at. Could this be some sort of prank? If this was a guard's doing, they would surely be kicked out of the kingdom for such tomfoolery. If it really was Wario who delivered this, that may explain why he was able to get inside the castle walls. But why wouldn't he just have knocked on the door and explained everything in person tonight? Daisy's mind was working overtime with all of these questions. Nevertheless, she did not fear Wario at the worst of times, so she knew all too well that she would indeed be following this letter up tomorrow. After all, seeing a grovelling, apologetic Wario was quite literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The following morning, Princess Daisy awoke to her standard routine. The life of a royal wasn't particularly taxing. Fighting off the hoards of adoring fans was the trickiest part of it all, but often a guard would be on duty to do that for her. The old Battlefield site was quite a distance away, so Daisy was all ready to go by about 10am. Upon asking for a driver to get her there, she was surprised to hear that someone had already been chosen. Somehow, the staff in the castle already knew where Daisy was going. Despite thinking that that was awfully strange, she accepted the designated driver and took off towards the destination. The journey there was almost awkwardly silent, but Daisy barely ever engaged in lengthy conversations with her drivers. If she did, it would be hard to get them to pipe down after too long. Instead, she admired the surrounding scenery. It had been a very long time since she could go an entire journey somewhere without seeing a single round of Smash in progress along the way. The kingdom seemed so much more tranquil now. The vehicle, coated with a thin layer of paint from a separate, faraway kingdom, drove past mushroom plains, vibrant floral fields and the world-famous Toad Harbour. It seemed like a wonderful tour of the kingdom outskirts was underway, until the engine sound died, and the vehicle came to a steady stop.

"We've arrived, Princess."

"Huh?" Surprisingly, the driver was right. Daisy had clearly been so enthralled in the views that she had subsequently become oblivious as to where she was. But there it was: the entrance to one of the oldest Smash sites in history. Battlefield was just up ahead. Thanking the driver, Daisy moved towards the towering entranceway with a slight spring in her step. It was exciting enough to see an entire Smash site completely empty. Let alone to then receive a heartfelt apology from the infamous Wario at the same time. Pushing through the grand, weighty solid mahogany double doors, it appeared that Wario was already waiting for her. Though for some reason, he wasn't alone. Beside him were a handful of Kameks.

"Ah, princess! Nobody can blame you for being tardy." Wario chuckled, slapping his portly gut as if he'd just told a whopper of a joke.

"Uh, thanks. Hey why did you bring company? I assumed you got me to come this far out so that you could grovel in private?" Daisy instantaneously knew something was up. Wario was wearing the same ear-to-ear grin that he would often be seen with when plotting something evil.

"Princess, look... I'm not going to lie to you anymore. I didn't bring you here to apologise to you. You know me: I'm not a time waster, so I'm just going to get right to the point." Slowly stepping towards the now slightly tense Daisy, Wario unveiled his true intentions.

"I've been a nobody for months now. I've sat and watched as the world around us turns into a haven of safety and political correctness. People don't fear me anymore... not like they used to. For that reason, I'm taking things into my own hands. I'm going to restore the balance. From today onwards, I'm going to be the most feared person in this kingdom!"

In disbelief of what she was hearing, Daisy started backing away from the seemingly deranged man. He seemed even more delusional than he used to on a bad day.

"Okay, it's clear you're doing nothing but wasting my time. I'm leaving this place, and never again am I going to listen to a word you say... or write!"

"And how exactly do you plan on getting away, hmm?"

Running back through the imposing front doors, Daisy felt her breath escape her as she saw that her driver was nowhere to be seen. Wario wasn't spouting rubbish – she really was trapped here.

"What have you done to my driver?!" Daisy enquired firmly.

"Oh princess. It's far too easy to breach those castle walls of yours. That driver of yours was sent by me, specifically to get you here unsuspectingly. It's not my fault that you didn't bother to question his place in the grounds."

In a matter of seconds, the situation had turned critical. Daisy reached into her purse in an attempt to grab her phone, but predictably, it was too late at this point. Help was not coming. Before she could even press a button, the four Kameks were at work. One of them used it's magic to send her phone flying in the opposite direction. Two of the others bound her arms and legs together, whilst the third lifted her up into the air. Struggling was impossible – Daisy had no way of resisting magic.

"Just pop her over there, boys." Wario pointed to a pile of debris on the floor. In a performance that looked almost rehearsed, the Kameks whipped up the pile of wood and metal, swiftly creating two pairs of stocks, as well as thick hooks with it. Before she could take in what was happening, Daisy was floating towards to contraptions.

"Wha- Wario stop this! I'm not the reason the Smash craze died out. You've got the wrong person!" Her reasoning efforts were wasted. Wario just smiled as the stocks opened up, and tightly snapped shut again around her ankles and wrists. The hooks then came flying in, locking the stocks into the surrounding concrete with such force that they refused to budge an inch. All of a sudden Daisy was sitting in an L shape with her back to a wall, legs straight out in front of her and arms up, high above her head. The hooked stocks made any attempt of limb movement futile.

"This is madness! I'm not a toy you cretin! Let me go right now before the castle gets word of what you've done!" Daisy was visibly furious. The use of Kameks on living creatures had been a prohibited act for centuries now. This sort of scenario was unthinkable to most.

"Here's what's going to happen cutie: I'm going to whip of those shoes of yours, and I'm going to tickle you. Oh, I'm going to tickle you a lot. I'm going to torture your immobilised body and you're going to sit there and take it. You're going to want to move every single muscle in your body. You're going to desperately want to escape. But there is nothing you're going to be able to do about it. It's going to suck."

Wario's words sent a tsunami of shivers down the princess' spine. This was quite possibly the last thing she expected to hear.

"W-What?... Wario don't you dare. I'm sensitive and you know that. Get me out of this thing before it's too late. Please, just don't tickle me." Trying to remain reserved, Daisy looked Wario dead in the eyes, hoping that the threat of royal action would get him to reconsider his actions, which it did not.

"Okay friends, you've done a top job. The princess and I just need a bit of privacy now."

The surrounding Kameks, having done their job to immobilise Daisy well, flew off in various directions. Initially this relieved Daisy, as the thought of being tickled by a Kamek's magic sounded like an experience that may well push somebody over their most extreme limits. However, she was unfortunately still bound in front of a man famous for having no remorse.

"Look, can we please talk about this?" Daisy had resorted to trying to reason with Wario. Perhaps if she could trick him into letting her go for somebody else, she could find a way to get him locked up before any real damage was done.

"I've said everything that I deemed necessary to say. Now it's time to start following through with my threats."

True to his word, Wario slid a finger into Daisy's right shoe and popped it off, exposing her soft, pedicured sole. Taking a while to admire the deep orange paint on her toenails, he then proceeded to remove the left shoe. During this process Daisy was saying anything that she felt may persuade the oblivious fiend to leave her alone. Her words were being totally ignored. Moments after feeling the cool air softly whisk around her exposed soles, the dreaded sensation came. Wario placed his thick index finger at the heel of his victims left foot, and slowly dragged it upwards until it flicked off the surface of her slender middle toe. Daisy yelped with a helpless tone to her voice, and her toes clenched in an attempt to shield the incoming assault.

"Interesting... we'll come back to these pretties." Pulling himself forwards, Wario turned his attention to a different part of Daisy's body. He was now eyeing up her underarms, which despite being clothed, were just poised in a defenceless stance. The man in yellow was very aware that Daisy's feet were the most sensitive part of her entire body. He couldn't go all out on them just yet.

"I-I don't enjoy being tickled when I can't defend myself. Let me at least have freedom to move my body. I can't handle this and you know it." Yet another futile attempt at stopping the attacker was made. Wario was essentially deaf in his current state. It was all too apparent that he was enjoying himself greatly.

Planting his fingertips against both of the motionless princess' armpits, Wario made no attempt at starting off gently. He immediately sent his fingers into a wiggling frenzy. They danced and pressed against the poor woman's pits in a fast-paced, but methodical manner. Despite what felt like a valiant attempt at holding in the giggles, Daisy had no chance of hiding her reactions from her cruel attacker. Her fists clenched into rocks and her toes curled wildly. She could feel every finger's individual motions across her vulnerable underarms. The more forceful the tickles got, the less it felt like the dress she had on was doing anything to save her.

"O-hohoho-okay. Stop it! You've done e-hehehe-enough now." Words were the only possible form of defence she had left. Though every time she asked for it to stop, Wario seemed more determined to make it worse. In a cruel effort to intensify the torture, he slipped his shameless fingers down the princess' sleeves, making contact with her bare underarms. There was no longer a layer of silk to act as a barrier from the assault. The sensation of having her smooth armpits stroked and prodded so viciously sent Daisy into hysterics. She started blurting out high pitched noises and trying to string a sentence together became near-impossible.

"Nahahaha-hooho pleehehehe-ase I'm going to paaahahahass out!"

Wario didn't care. His tickles only got faster and more effective. He could feel that the pits which he was gliding and darting his fingers along were starting to get ever so moist with sweat. Daisy was clearly not having a great time.

"I said PLEEEHEHEEHEASE!" She was essentially begging at this point. Her body trying it's best to squirm and thrash, but unsuccessfully. The scenario played out for at least five more minutes. Every now and then a fingernail would gently scrape up one of the now-slippery armpits of the captive royal. In the heat of the moment, it was hard to know what was worse: the poking and prodding deep into her skin, or the caressing and scratching swirls that came in-between. Knowing full well that her face was likely as red as Mario's hat, Daisy couldn't care less about what she looked like. She was far too focused on struggling against her immovable restraints.

About eleven minutes had passed, and Wario finally decided that the princess' underarms had been through enough. Sliding back into his original position, he grabbed the toes on each of his hostage's feet and looked straight at her glowing, sweat-glazed face. For a few moments it was like he had returned from his oblivious spell. Daisy knew what came next, she knew that the yellow-capped monster wanted some foot action next. Her mind was bursting with fear and anticipation of having her bare, sensitive soles tickled without mercy. Unfortunately, she was so out of breath that trying to force out words between the painting and gasping was unrealistic.

"How strange." Wario said with a firm grin covering his proud face. "You're not asking me to stop anymore. Perhaps you're growing fond of this tickle domination, eh?"

His teasing got no verbal response. It only caused Daisy to shiver uncontrollably once again. Desperately wanting to use this brief period of time to reason with the man, all she could do was shake her head and continue panting away.

"Well, I don't hear any arguments. Lucky me – time to give those pretty little feet of yours some of my attention."

"No..."

The inevitable barrage of fingers came, full force. Daisy had no time to even flinch as Wario lunged his hands straight towards the rather absurdly sensitive feet that sat there, immobile before him. Much like with the underarm torture, the poor princess could feel every individual finger glide, slip and scratch along her pale, soft soles. Both feet were being 'treated' to an equal dose of punishment. Every now and then, a finger or two would slip in-between her toes or around to the upper foot, taking Daisy by surprise and causing her to yelp and squeal even more than she already was.

"W-Wario you hahahahaha have to stohop, PLEASE!"

It was quite a well-known fact that Princess Daisy had intriguingly ticklish feet. She would mention it in the odd interview, and it was a huge talking point amongst adoring fans of hers. Sometimes she would even be spotted barefoot somewhere or take part in a photoshoot which included a few snaps of her naked toes, sending some fans into an absolute frenzy. Despite this though, very few people had actually got hands-on with these royal feet, and even fewer had experienced the joy of tickling them. Wario was definitely breaking some records right now. As his fingers worked their way around every inch of sole territory, Daisy continued to bellow with laughter and screech helplessly. She was a bit of a mess at this point. Her hair looked as though she'd just been charged with one thousand volts of electricity, and her body was glistening with sweat. These sheltered feet had never been tickled for more than a few seconds at a time, and certainly never whilst restrained before.

"I ca-haahahaaha can't take thisahaaha. It's torture! It's killing me!"

Once again appearing entirely oblivious to the pleas, Wario continued his assault. He switched up his technique a few times, but eventually found the ultimate method of torturing the defenceless hostage. Focussing on just one foot at a time, he would use one hand to pin back the toes, stopping them from curling and clenching, whilst the other hand would send all of its fingers scraping up and down the remarkably smooth sole. This technique brought Daisy even closer to losing her senses.

"NO PLEASEAAHAHAAH NOT THAAHAHA, NOT THAT! I'LL DO AAHAHAHA ANYTHING. JUST STOHOP IT."

Pushing her as close to insanity as possible, Wario didn't stop. Instead, he kept shifting between soles every few seconds, making it so that Daisy didn't have time to get used to the sensations. Not being able to scrunch her toes meant that there was not a single wrinkle on the soles of her feet whilst they were being brutally played with. There was literally nothing left that could be perceived as a defence against the torture. The feeling of knowing that one's captor isn't going to stop anytime soon, and that there's nothing one can say or do to stop them made this entire scenario far more mind-numbingly excruciating than it would have otherwise been.

"WARIOHOHO! WARIOOOHOHOHOH!"

Combining elements of every technique up until this point, Wario knew that his suffering victim wouldn't be able to take much more. He kept up the intensity for a while longer, prying apart the princess' toes and snaking his fingers in between them, only to guide them back around to the sole again shortly afterwards. He looked up to catch one final glimpse at the squealing, howling woman in front of him, before slowly coming to a stop.

"HAAHAHAHA NO! PLEEEHEHEHEASE... I can't ta-hahahake this... stop... stop." The princess could finally attempt to catch her breath again. The pain had stopped. Her feet could breathe once again.

Silence occupied the next couple of minutes. Wario stared down at the feet he had just tormented. He enjoyed watching the toes wiggle and curl as Daisy still felt slight after effects of the experience. Before giving her a chance to say anything, he marched to the other end of the battlefield. The princess just sat there, zapped of all energy and watched as he bent down to pick something up. Something large and heavy.

"Time for the grand finale, methinks!"

Turning around, the distant, rotund figure slowly paced back towards Daisy. She struggled to identify what exactly it was that he was holding, but it looked imposing. Was it some sort of inhumane tickle machine? Was this the start of round two?!

"Sorry princess, but I can't have you going back to the castle right now. I'm afraid word gets around, and I don't trust that you won't send your faithful guards my way as revenge." Wario placed the rather scary looking device directly in front of Daisy. After a bit of fiddling around, it made a noise and emitted a warm orange glow. It was at that moment that sudden realisation hit the still-bound captive royal.

"No..." She whispered softly

"Yes!" Replied Wario, looking almost sympathetic.

Later that evening, staff around the castle grounds had picked up word that Daisy hadn't returned from her 'venture' that morning. It was agreed that if she was not seen by sunrise, a search party would be deployed. Little did they know about what their princess had just been subjected to, and what threat was still at large out there, looking for it's next unsuspecting victim...


End file.
